An understanding of the relationship between family life cycle, family income and labor supply is important for a number of theoretical and practical reasons. Economists and demographers have developed a variety of models linking the family and the labor market. This paper focuses on the family life cycle concept developed by the Familienwissenschaftliche Forschungsstelle (Statistisches Landesamt Baden- Württemberg), it is operationalized for the 1995 German microcensus . The results show the importance of a high female employment rate. Especially in East-Germany (with a high female employment rate) the negativ effect of children on the family income is quite small. West-Germany has a relatively low employment rate of married women and a relatively high share of traditional male-breadwinner households.